We really have to congratulate ourselves for two hard-working years. The first was clearly an exploration. We didn’t even have a syllabus, because we were granted the C1 at our School a few months before the beginning of the course. But it was a joyful exploration with a communicative lifelong learning approach, that witnessed amazing cases of progress among those who undertook this methodology. On our second year, we worked even harder, and not as joyfully, because the pressure people felt to get their certificate made them trust the traditional Passing Tests approach, which bears fruit in the short term — few people who passed in June had a consolidated C1 level. Hopefully, if they undertake now the approach this course offered, they will be able to learn in more meaningful and effective ways, in terms of consolidating their C1 level. Otherwise, their level will go back to an upper intermediate level, with frequent fossilized mistakes coming from transfer problems (translating from Spanish). In any case, hard work bears fruit, and I’d like to congratulate every single student who achieved their C1 certificate.

The lessons learned in this past year, along with my 28 years of teaching and learning, have allowed me to write in just two months 75 resource cards that will help advanced learners of English to keep their level up and develop it, as independent and resourceful lifelong learners. The C1 Resource Pack will be published in about a month and as no teacher will earn money from it, it will be sold as cost price + a few euros to donate to our School, for inviting Guest Speakers who can’t be paid by the school because they are just English-speakers, not professional lecturers.

As I was on a roll, I also wrote a story in Spanish, Cuentos verdaderos: Noor y Micaela, about a little girl and an old woman, which will also be published this year. This time the bit we raise the cost price will be donated to our School for creating a Library for Developing a Feminist Intelligence.

I’m leaving this blog now. Our third generation of C1s will be interacting on this other course blog, the 2016-17 C1 Blog.

Like this:

We had a very good September, the exams were really well designed and interesting!

My highlight is the oral that Noelia and Cristina did, which moved me deeply. They worked so hard in the best of ways and it was obvious! Their range was amazing, and they managed to consolidate overcoming fossilized mistakes, in a spectacular way. No wonder. They listened to English every day, the 6-minute English podcast as their beloved permanent listening, and included a great range of C1 language items, including politeness, ways of mitigating kindly their messages. They practiced and practiced! I’m so impressed! ❤ (I’m not saying this for negative reasons, but to say that when you love using the language and work hard at it, the rewards are certain!) ❤

More news: an absentist came, and everybody passed, except a student who decided to improve her English before taking more exams, which is also a good decision, particularly because finishing C1 courses without having overcome fossilized mistakes is one of the most harmful things for your English because it can’t shine (sound like a C1 level) and then people’s level plumments back to the intermediate level.

I hope everybody keeps listening to English every day, and for cases with fossilized mistakes, do some listen and repeat, too, to automatize accurante production.

About this course at TP

Blogroll

Loving Andalucía, by EFL Learners

Herstories of Womankind

English-speaking Women Writers

EFL Learners Speaking (YouTube)

EOI Teacher Sharing Her Work

Desarrolla inteligencia feminista

Coeducación para personas adultas

On Learning, this course and Certificate Exams

LEARNING comes from using the same materials several times & preferably in different ways, combining repetition & different ways to exploit the materials, so we will often be using what I call the Onion Approach. Sometimes this is perceived as work never being finished. This idea is misleading. What we/you are doing is coming back to the same materials on different occassions. Outside the classroom, you need to be doing this as often as possible. So listen & listen a few times, then practice retelling, then jot down interesting vocabulary or write a summary, then practice some more & share or record...
ABOUT PASSING A B2 TEST the year before you start this course. I don't recommend you start this course without having spent a whole learning year on your own, listening to English every day, using your English. The C1 level requires 2, 3 years of non-stop work/enjoyment, or 1 in an English-speaking country, after passing a B2 test.